$5 million grant for San Pablo Bay restoration will add to Bay Trail

Sonoma Land Trust, a Santa Rosa-based nonprofit conservation organization, has received a $5 million state grant to kick-start its restoration of a tidal marsh along northern San Pablo Bay, east of Novato.

The funding from the state Wildlife Conservation Board will cover construction of a $2.5 million flood-protection levee on the group's 2,327-acre Sears Point Ranch at the southern tip of Sonoma County.

The overall $18 million project, between Sonoma Raceway and the bay, is intended to restore nearly 1,000 acres of tidal marsh and 1,350 acres of seasonal wetland and grasslands. The farmland property, used to grow livestock feed and once eyed for a controversial casino, was purchased in 2005 for $20 million in public and private funds. It is now host to one of the largest tidal wetland restoration projects in the state.

The levee will be designed with a gradual bayside slope, intended to provide flood protection for Highway 37 and a nearby railroad line. It also will provide more high-tide refuge for endangered marsh wildlife and allow wetland plants to gradually spread up the levee as sea level rises.

The top of the levee will allow additional public access to the area, extending the San Francisco Bay Trail by 2.5 miles. The overall project includes four miles of trail, allowing hikers and bikers to travel from the Petaluma River to Tolay Creek.

The existing 1.5 miles of trail are open to the public, with access from the east end of the Port Sonoma parking lot. Sonoma Land Trust offers guided walks of the rest of the property.

The group secured a total of $4 million for the Sears Point project in October from the state Coastal Conservancy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

"The grant from the Wildlife Conservation Board gives a near-final boost to this $18 million project and allows us to begin work this summer," Julian Meisler, Sonoma Land Trust's Baylands program manager, said in a statement.